things aren't always what they seem

In this post, I said I was going to make a list of all the things I love about myself and post it here. I had forgotten about that until I ran across the list in my journal. Here is the partial list. Fortunately, every day brings new discoveries. I am enthusiastic. I am energetic….

“I feel like I should be doing something momentous with my life, ” she said. I replied that she had been raising her baby for 10 years. She said she wanted to find something more important to do. I said, “In the meantime, enjoy the setting sun and the smell of your daughter’s hair.” It…

The little girl in me was never told that it wasn’t okay for people to be mean to me. Growing up, I was given the clear message that I had to earn love and that I “deserved” to be punished if I made mistakes. Just being me wasn’t enough for the people and the culture…

One of my favorite children’s books is “Scarecrow” by Cynthia Rylant which speaks of the peace of the scarecrow’s life in poetic prose. The story is an allegory for the impermanence of human existence. Every time I read it to my children, I am struck by these lines: “He knows he isn’t real. A scarecrow…